Is economics a science or a theology? Nelson sensibly argues that economists are a priestly class; they issue authoritative (scientific) blessings upon the marketplace. The bishops of this class are the mathematicians, who convert ideology into “science”. This essay, in contrast, argues that mathematics has more to do with internal competition between economists than with politics or religion. ...

We extend the discussion of redistributive politics across electoral systems to allow for taxation to be distortionary. We allow politicians to choose any tax rate between zero and unity and then redistribute the money collected. We build on the model put forward by Myerson (1993) and Lizzeri and Persico (2001 and 2005) to show that the use of distortionnary taxation can be understood as an ana...

1. Look as shit as an asset, the beginning of a whole sanitation value chain 2. Emphasize the role of the private sector in sanitation, in particular small scale private enterprises 3. Pay attention to the economics of investing in sanitation 4. Increase the efficiency of the sanitation value chain 5. Look at advantages of small scale decentralized versus large scale centralized waste water tre...

Happiness has become a high-profile goal for national governments, city authorities, and technology developers finding new ways to map measure emotions through happiness economics, urban management, digital emotion-sensing. This paper advances critical geographical analysis of the neglected rationales, mechanisms, implications promoting emotion happiness. Researchers, policy-makers, publics ali...